The Rape of Venice is the title of a multimedia installation project by the venetian artist Andrea Morucchio. It is part of MUVE CONTEMPORANEO, an exhibition involving the languages of contemporary art that the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia will display in its Museums during the Biennale Internazionale d’Arte 2015. The Rape of Venice is organised and produced by MAVIVE Parfums Venezia with the contribution of Accademia del Profumo and Atelier Fragranze Milano. It involves a multimedia installation in Palazzo Mocenigo, Venezia comprising different elements such as, an overlaid printed floor, an audio track, video projections, and the diffusion of a fragrance. Through the synergy of a series of heterogeneous elements, in terms of technique and language, The Rape of Venice encourages the public to reflect on the present conditions confronting Venice today, its decline, and its relentless transformation into a theme-park for millions of tourists. As a Venetian, indignant about the situation Venice finds itself in, I take this opportunity offered by MAVIVE and the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia to analyse through the language of contemporary art the decaying of Venice. The Rape of Venice, far from being didactic and propagandist, intends to elicit feelings of suspension, instability, bewilderment, and generate an awareness and empathy regarding the theme of this artistic project. It seeks to achieve these responses by totally immersing the viewer in the exhibition spaces. The project was conceived as a means to direct the different senses of the viewer towards a desired climax: the Scent of Venice. Perfume represents hope, hope to end the destruction of the city, a process captured in the visual, tactile, and audio elements of the exhibition. In this manner, hope has the “ freezing seaweed,” as Brodsky said. This smell is the profound, original essence of this city, rising form the sea as Venus Anadyomene. This characteristic scent reminds us of the true nature of Venice. Unchanged over the years, its architectural fabric is the counterpart to all the massive changes that are jeopardizing the existence of its amphibious civilisation. The atavistic smell of seaweed is a sensorial metaphor signalling the hope that a sustainable future can be found once again for Venice. This project is connected to, and shares the main theme of EXPO Milano 2015: the environmental sustainability of our planet. The Rape of Venice interprets this theme by placing it in the context of the city of Venice with all of the attending phenomena that undermine its integrity. This interpretation creates a space for hope; it seeks to contribute to the city regaining its original nature, a nature represented by an atavistic element: the smell of seaweed. With its intrinsically political nature, along with its multimedia and interdisciplinary characteristics, this artistic project is in tune with the theme of this year’s forthcoming Biennale, All the World’s Futures. As the curator of the Venice Biennale 2015, Okwui Enwezor, said: “This Venice Biennale will be ambitious, confusing, political and, yes, sensual, visual, and literary. It must provoke experiences, it must try to create a different relationship among art media. It must create new intersections.”

The Rape of Venice is the title of a multimedia installation project by the venetian artist Andrea Morucchio. It is part of MUVE CONTEMPORANEO, an exhibition involving the languages of contemporary art that the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia will display in its Museums during the Biennale Internazionale d’Arte 2015. The Rape of Venice is organised and produced by MAVIVE Parfums Venezia with the contribution of Accademia del Profumo and Atelier Fragranze Milano. It involves a multimedia installation in Palazzo Mocenigo, Venezia comprising different elements such as, an overlaid printed floor, an audio track, video projections, and the diffusion of a fragrance. Through the synergy of a series of heterogeneous elements, in terms of technique and language, The Rape of Venice encourages the public to reflect on the present conditions confronting Venice today, its decline, and its relentless transformation into a theme-park for millions of tourists. As a Venetian, indignant about the situation Venice finds itself in, I take this opportunity offered by MAVIVE and the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia to analyse through the language of contemporary art the decaying of Venice. The Rape of Venice, far from being didactic and propagandist, intends to elicit feelings of suspension, instability, bewilderment, and generate an awareness and empathy regarding the theme of this artistic project. It seeks to achieve these responses by totally immersing the viewer in the exhibition spaces. The project was conceived as a means to direct the different senses of the viewer towards a desired climax: the Scent of Venice. Perfume represents hope, hope to end the destruction of the city, a process captured in the visual, tactile, and audio elements of the exhibition. In this manner, hope has the “ freezing seaweed,” as Brodsky said. This smell is the profound, original essence of this city, rising form the sea as Venus Anadyomene. This characteristic scent reminds us of the true nature of Venice. Unchanged over the years, its architectural fabric is the counterpart to all the massive changes that are jeopardizing the existence of its amphibious civilisation. The atavistic smell of seaweed is a sensorial metaphor signalling the hope that a sustainable future can be found once again for Venice. This project is connected to, and shares the main theme of EXPO Milano 2015: the environmental sustainability of our planet. The Rape of Venice interprets this theme by placing it in the context of the city of Venice with all of the attending phenomena that undermine its integrity. This interpretation creates a space for hope; it seeks to contribute to the city regaining its original nature, a nature represented by an atavistic element: the smell of seaweed. With its intrinsically political nature, along with its multimedia and interdisciplinary characteristics, this artistic project is in tune with the theme of this year’s forthcoming Biennale, All the World’s Futures. As the curator of the Venice Biennale 2015, Okwui Enwezor, said: “This Venice Biennale will be ambitious, confusing, political and, yes, sensual, visual, and literary. It must provoke experiences, it must try to create a different relationship among art media. It must create new intersections.”